GBS at the Basilica Block Party

Basilica Block Party
Kitchen Party - GBS Style

I found myself in the midwest, staring excitedly at miles of corn and soybean fields, traveling from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Minneapolis, Minnesota to see my favorite band. Now, this is not the longest trip I have made and seen the band, but this was a long time in the making.

I have been promising Sunflower for years now to go see her in Iowa. Time-wise and cost-wise, I couldn't seem to get it together. But all the fates smiled down to make this trip possible in June. Travelocity had sent me a notice of a really cheap fare to Moline - only 2 hours away from Mt. Vernon, Iowa, where Sunflower is currently residing. AND Great Big Sea announced a show in Minneapolis which is "only" 5 hours from Cedar Rapids. AND I was introduced to Hotwire.com which got me a ridiculously low hotel rate just south of the Minneapolis. So - Mid-West, Ho!

Sun and I had left a little later than we planned due to a cooking snafu with the Breakfast Pizza. But we left with what we thought was plenty of time to spare. I had Mapquested the directions to the hotel and from the hotel to the address on the website for the Basilica Block Party.

I learned some Iowa history, saw Marion, Iowa, home of the Swamp Fox (my Disney hero in the 1950's), got my first taste of Culver's Ice Cream, enjoyed the mix of GBS and U2 songs emanating from Sun's CD player.

We got to the hotel at 5 (GBS was to go on at 6 and we were supposedly only 20 minutes away from the venue) and headed out. Following the directions from Mapquest, we ended up at an intersection that was nowhere near the venue. We were clear on the opposite end of town! Turning around, we hightailed it back on Hennepin toward the downtown area. Finally arriving at our destination, we can't find any of the parking areas suggested on the tickets. So, in ever-increasing circles, we traverse the downtown area looking for parking. It is now 6 PM.

We finally found someplace to park and walked briskly (as briskly as my rotten knees and ankles allowed) the 5-6 blocks to the venue. It was now 6:15. We handed in our tickets to find out the stage we wanted was all the way at the other end of the festival - another 3 blocks or so. As we approached the highway, we could hear quite clearly the strains of "Beat the Drum." Boy, did they sound good! Sean's bodhran rang loud and true across the highway and spoke to me. *sigh* I now have a better appreciation for that song.

We walked under the highway and found the Windsor Canadian Stage (how appropriate). It was pretty crowded but not overly congested on the sides. I drifted Stage Bob and Sun did too as there was no getting anywhere near stage Alan.

The first thing I noticed was that Bob looked like a lobster. Poor B'y must have had some good sunburn under that wallpaper shirt. No wonder he wore long sleeves if the rest of his upper body was as red as his chest and face. He spent some time pre-show outdoors, that's for sure! They all had the obligatory sunglasses on since the sun was right in their eyes. I had snuck my camera past the people at the gate. They asked to look in my bag as I walked in but all they saw was the wallet, my three asthma meds, a puzzle book and a CD player, and my YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MUCH BOB shirt.. The camera was under the wallet

You can't really see his chest but you can see his red face here. Look under his chin. I was trying to figure out whether he was so hot in the long sleeve shirt and therefore red, or because he was sunburned. I vote for sunburned.

General Taylor was the next with all the b�ys being in fine voice. S�an held that note oh so long and loud and sweetly. Murray�s bass note at the end was physically audible. It made my chest rumble. I wish they�d get Kris to make up a 5th part. My gaze did not wander from Mr. McCann in that wonderful diagonal striped blue shirt. Boy, did he look yummy. I didn�t even gaze Bob-ward for GT. I know, slanderous.

After GT, Alan invited us all up to Newfoundland to hear more shanties � �Come and see us in Canada�s version of Hawaii � the tropical Island of Newfoundland!� And part of the intro for the next song was S�an stating that he fell in love in the state of Minnesota. Believe it or not, that was the intro for�

I�m A Rover � what a great rendition! Bob was fantastic on the fiddle and Alan and he was laughing about something. S�an was enjoying the spotlight too. He was dancing around!

Sea of No Cares was a blur to me. I remember enjoying it and listening to Bob�s harmonies, but I also remember watching S�an again. Hmmm. Go fig.

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